Chapter 1 - The Bucket
The water hit me before the lawyer finished laughing.
One second I was testifying under oath. The next, ice-cold water was running down my gray sweater, soaking my jeans, and dripping onto the polished floor of a Navy courtroom.
“Maybe that'll wake up your memory,” Senior Chief Nolan Pike said, lowering the empty bucket.
Several officers laughed. Captain Adrian Thorne leaned back in his chair as though he'd bought a ticket to a show.
I didn't stand. I didn't scream. My hands stayed flat on the witness table.
Lieutenant Commander Hayes, Thorne's lawyer, gave a tired smile. “Miss Vance, if you're finished performing, perhaps you can explain how a former supply clerk became a legendary sniper.”
“Pike,” the judge snapped. “Step away from the witness.”
Pike shrugged. “Just trying to separate fact from fantasy, ma'am.”
The judge reached for the security bell. Before she touched it, the courtroom doors opened.
Admiral Evelyn Calder entered without an entourage. Her white uniform carried four stars. Conversation stopped so suddenly that I could hear water striking the floor beneath my chair.
“Who authorized this?” Calder asked.
Nobody answered.
She crossed the room. Thorne stood, preparing his best salute. She walked past him without a glance. Then she stopped in front of me, straightened her shoulders, and raised her hand to her brow.
An admiral saluted a wet, shaking-looking woman in blue jeans.
I rose and returned it. My hand was perfectly steady.
“Lieutenant Commander Sarah Vance,” she said, clear enough for the whole gallery to hear. “I owe you my life.”
Hayes's mouth opened. Nothing came out.
Calder turned toward the judge. “Your Honor, this witness did serve as a sniper. Her records are sealed because the missions are still classified. The accusation against her is not only false. It is part of the very cover-up she came here to expose.”
Thorne stopped smiling.
Then the admiral placed a folder on the bench and said, “The three men abandoned on Ridge Four weren't the only victims.”
May you like
She looked directly at Thorne.
“One of them might still be alive.”
